By Innocent Obasi
Data Scientists Network (DSN), an artificial intelligence (AI) technology company, has introduced a digital education delivery and access platform that aids schools and parents in preparing African youths for the future of work and the fourth industrial revolution.
The platform known as MacroTutor, according to DSN, is an on-demand and cost-effective educational technology solution that gives schools and parents access to the best teachers and digital learning content in specialized fields like coding, artificial intelligence, robotics, programming, machine learning, data analytics, interaction design, etc.
The company, formerly known as Data Science Nigeria, said that with a median age of 17 and a growing demand for young Africans to participate in the digital economy, it is urgent to get primary and secondary pupils in sub-Saharan Africa ready for the more than 230 million jobs that would require digital skills by 2030.
Toyin Adekanmbi, executive director of DSN, described the initiative as “a creative and innovative approach to democratise computer and ICT education in Nigeria, which ensures that any school can offer world-class digital subjects and provide future-focused learning to students without any cash flow strain and an additional salary cost”.
Adekanmbi said that old students’ associations and parent-teacher associations could support their schools with dedicated digital education teachers.
DSN said the platform will democratise access to acquiring world-class digital skills, through a network of qualified tutors who would provide individualized and curriculum-based learning at students’ homes on a one-on-one basis or to a group of students in a school.
In addition to improving student learning outcomes, this will add a significant value for schools by eliminating the need for full-time digital/ICT teachers. MacroTutor will provide a more affordable option to high-quality instructors and world-class content at rates that any low to medium-cost schools may afford. Every child on the continent has access to digital skills as a result of this inclusive, widespread, and more inexpensive access,the company said.
Also, MacroTutor’s product innovation seeks to close the knowledge gaps that exist between what is taught in Nigerian schools and the future-ready skills that learners will need to participate, contribute, and compete in the global marketplace.
